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The Heist by Rathenhope
Warning: Explicit language in some places. Tom Rathenhope, general scoundrel of the universe (at least, that’s the way he liked to think of himself, though the reality was far from this, there being far better scoundrels out there), stepped into the study of one Evan Sneetch, influential Lunite antiques dealer, based in Freedom City, New Luna. He was flanked by two rather broad-shouldered men, both taller than him, both dressed in suits, gun bulges in interior pockets, contrasting against his flak jacket and trousers, both glaring at him. The study was well furnished, many pieces of artwork decorating not only the walls, but the ceilings, and some placed in toughened glass cases about the room. There were books, paintings, weird idol things, tapestries, jewels, vases and many other strange but wonderful items. The main focus of the room, at least for Rathenhope, was the impressive jewelled crown, sitting to the left of a mahogany desk in another case. However, behind the desk sat a short, balding Lunite, the aforementioned Mr. Sneetch. The man gave the two guards a flick of a finger, sending them bowing from the room. “Mr. Rathenhope I presume?” the small man questioned in a high-pitched, nasal voice. “You would presume right Mr. Sneetch,” responded Tom, his head tipping in mock-respect to the other man. The man gave him a critical eye. “Unarmed I see.” Tom shook his head emphatically. “Not usually, just today for this very special meeting. You have a very strict dress code. Evan responded dryly. “A pity you didn’t adhere to the rest of it.” Tom looked shocked, but then grinned at the baldy. “I’m not one for convention Mr. Sneetch.” “So I see,” was the still-dry answer from Evan. “Anyway, down to business. I have requested a meeting with you because I hear you are good at taking things. There’s something I want.” “I’m sorry Mr. Sneetch, I’m just not that kind of guy,” Rathenhope responded, still grinning at the man. The Lunite stood to his feet, increasing his height by a factor of zero. “Shut up,” he snapped. “There is a vase I want. A fellow dealer has this vase, but he refuses to sell it. Get it for me, and I’ll pay you a thousand raydens.” Rathenhope looked at the man thoughtfully. “Deal,” he nodded after a few seconds deliberation. Hell, he wasn’t about to turn down any amount of money for what would surely be an easy job. “But obviously I need to know what this vase looks like, and where to find it.” “Very funny Mr. Rathenhope,” came the obviously-unamused reply from Evan. He slid a data chip across his desk, pausing to allow Tom time to move across to the desk and pick it up. This he did, smoothly sliding a PDA from his pocket and inserting the chip. He tapped a few buttons on it, the screen springing into life as it read the chip. A number of images appeared on the PDA’s screen, along with a map, and a name, ‘Redear Valuespotter’. He looked at them critically before nodding. “Perfect, a Demarian. Can’t stand the furry bastards,” was his approving reply. “I’ll be able to use this just fine. Expect your vase within the week.” “I’ll hold you to that, Mr. Rathenhope,” the nasal Sneetch responded, sinking back into his chair. “You may go,” he said, tapping a few buttons into a control panel on the arm of his chair, the doors opening and those armed guards coming back in. “My men will show you the way out.” “Pleasure meeting you,” fake-smiled Rathenhope as he was lead out of the door, and off to go do his job. It was several days later, after much analysis of the schematics of the building that he’d have to break into (fortunately included on that data chip), that Rath was ready to pull off his cat burglar trick. It was a simple plan. Break into the building, deactivate the alarm system, get past the guards, steal the vase from the study, and get back out again. Piece of cake! It unfortunately never crossed Rathenhope’s mind that he might be a little shit at burgling, being that he’d never really done it before. He just blithered off under his own confident steam. The night of the heist came. It was a rather warm night, no breeze stirring the air. Rathenhope approached the building that he’d be breaking into. It was an unassuming building really, nothing to differentiate itself from the rest of the buildings on the street. Except that it was about to have an intruder. The Martian watched the building carefully, waiting until the majority of the lights were off. He snuck around to the side of the building, reaching a metal side door, a codelock beside it. He tapped a number into it, another piece of information gained from Evan’s chip. The door slid open silently and Rathenhope nodded happily to himself, quickly disappearing inside, the door sliding shut behind him. He found himself in a darkened corridor, and began looking about, counting the doors as he snuck down it. There was a sudden noise and he flattened himself into one of the doorframes as a different door opened, sending a shaft of light into the corridor as a burly guard stepping out of it. The guard looked about, straight in Tom’s direction, but coming from a well-lit room into a darkened corridor such as this tends to play havoc with the eyes, and his gaze simply passed over the wannabe-cat-burglar. The guard turned down the corridor after flicking the light switch in the room he’d come from, heading off in the other direction. Only when he was gone did Rathenhope allow himself a sigh of relief, peeling himself away from the door he had been pressed against, and headed for the room the guard had just come out of. Tom slid silently through the door and looked about the darkened room with his already-adjusted eyes. It was a rather large study, like Sneetch’s, filled with display cases and wall-hangings, but none of these were of any interest to Rathenhope. He headed straight for the large desk at the other side of the room, and walking around it, reached underneath the thing, hitting a secret button that was located there. A section of wall slid aside and the Martian grinned to himself, before a slight frown crossed his features as he moved to the secret door. “All of this seems very convenient, and very easy,” he murmured to himself. “That’ssss because it issss,” came a very unexpected reply from the darkness of the room beyond. A light flicked on to reveal a very large Demarian standing just inside the doorway, flanked by two human guards. Rathenhope stopped dead, blinking in the sudden light, his hand flying down to his side, reaching for a weapon that wasn’t there. “Shit!” he exclaimed. The Demarian just smirked at the human, his tail flicking against the floor. “Sssurrrprrrissssed, Misssterrr Rrrrathenhope?” asked the feline. The Martian didn’t reply, backing up slowly, but quickly found his progress halted by the guard he’d seen earlier. “Now now Missssterrr Rrrathenhope, don’t be rrrrude,” the Demarian said, moving forwards slightly, his teeth glinting in the light as he smiled. It was at this point that Tom noticed that the feline in front of him had one red ear, contrasting against his otherwise black fur. “Redear Valuespotter I presume,” Rathenhope finally responded. “You were waiting for me,” he stated. “Which means the reason I had so much information is because you planted it,” he reasoned, watching the Demarian for a reaction. Redear nodded, a pleased expression on his face. “Rrright in one Misssterrr Rrrathenhope.” Tom nodded, and then frowned again. “The one thing I don’t get, is why?” “Becaussse, Evan Sssneetch hassss ssssomething I want,” the Demarian responded. “So why the elaborate plan? Why not just hire someone to get hold of what he has?” Tom asked carefully, snorting slightly. “Becausse, he doessssn’t let anyone of yourrr type get closssse enough. Which is wherrre you come in.” Redear said confidently. “Me?” asked Rathenhope with a glare at the Demarian. “Ssssneetch will let you into hisss sstudy becausssse you worrrk for him. I couldn’t jussst apprrroach you norrrmally,” Valuespotter pointed out. “You do not like my kind. Ssso I have forrrced you into a posssition wherrre you are forrrced to accept.” “Forced to accept?” snorted Rathenhope. “I can quite easily refuse.” The Demarian just smirked at Rathenhope again, his ears rotating slightly. “If you did, I would have you arrrresssted forrr brrreaking and enterrring. I will howeverrr, make you an offerrr. If you sssteal thisss piece forrr me, I will prrrovide you with two thousssand rrrayden.” Rathenhope pondered for a very short amount of time, measurable in milliseconds. “I’ll do it,” he agreed. “What do you want stolen.” “A Demarrian idol,” Redear stated. “It’sss in hisss ssstudy. I alrrready have a fake made up. All you need to do is ssswitch them.” Tom rolled his eyes at the Demarian. “‘All I need to do’. You make it sound easy.” “It will be,” the Demarian grinned at Rathenhope. “I alssso have a fake of the vassse he wanted rready.” “You were very well prepared,” remarked the Martian sourly. “I have been planning thissss forrr some time,” Redear noted, waving a paw at his bodyguards, who swiftly nodded and then disappeared. Redear reached up to a shelf beside him and brought down two objects. A vase, looking identical to the picture on the chip Rathenhope had, and an idol that sparked a memory in Tom’s head and he nodded. “I’ve seen one like that before.” The Demarian nodded slightly, holding them out to Rathenhope. “Take them… I will meet you tomorrrrow noon at the sssshuttle porrrt. Do not fail me, or therrre will be trrrouble,” he said with a smirk, his claws unsheathing slightly. Tom nodded, taking the objects gingerly. “Tomorrow at noon, I’ll be there. Have my money.” Redear grinned and nodded back. “Ssshow yourrrssself out Misssterrr Rrrathenhope. You know the way.” The Martian turned and left without another word, heading out of the door, back down the corridor, and out of the outside door from whence he came, not glancing back at the building. As he walked, he typed a quick message into his PDA, sending it to the contact he had for Sneetch. The message read: ‘Item acquired, will exchange tomorrow at ten am.” When Tom arrived at the building Sneetch worked from the next day, he was dressed much the same as the night before, but with the addition of a shoulder bag, inside which were the two fakes. He sauntered up to the entrance and introduced himself to those guarding. They nodded, showing him straight into Sneetch’s study. The Lunite was already sitting at his desk, an expectant look on his face as he saw Tom. “Ahh, Mr. Rathenhope. Good to see you again. You have my vase I assume,” he said, cutting straight to the point through the pleasantries. He nodded to his guards, who left the room quietly. There was a nod from Rathenhope as he unzipped the bag and gently pulled out the fake vase, handing it over to Evan, who took it eagerly, looking over the piece. There was an approving nod from him before he spoke again. “Well done, Tom. This seems to be it. I of course will need to run a basic check on it. Please excuse me for a minute.” With that, the Lunite stood, turning to go through a door to the side of his desk. Tom frowned after the man, and then did a quick check of the room, sighing as he noticed a security camera. Nevertheless, he quickly walked over to where the idol was on display, fortunately not surrounded by a case. Looking around again, he nodded quickly, reaching down into his bag, grabbing the fake, and then swiftly switching them. He looked at the door that Sneetch had gone through, and seeing nothing, very quickly left the room at a brisk walk. No one stopped him as he walked past the guard stations, and straight out of the door, sweat beading on his forehead. The second he was far enough away, he let out a huge sigh of relief, shaking his head slowly and trembling a little at what he’d just done. There was a sudden yell from behind him, and without thinking, he ran. He could hear pursuers behind him, and just ran for the harbour as fast as he could. As he got to the harbour, he saw the ferry to Greenville preparing to leave, and he headed for it, running up the ramp, his strength beginning to give out as he reached the top of it. He turned quickly, amidst the bewildered stares of staff and passengers alike, looking for his pursuers. But there were none, it seemed as if they’d stopped chasing him. He sighed, finding a seat and leaning back, breathing quickly. The rest of the ferry trip passed with no further incident, and soon Rathenhope was exiting the ferry and heading for the Greenville shuttle port. It was rapidly approaching noon, but before he got there his PDA beeped, letting him know he had a new message. Withdrawing it from his pocket, he stopped walking and looked at it cautiously. It was a message from Evan Sneetch, and it read as following. ‘Mr Rathenhope, It appears I made a mistake hiring you. This is a mistake I will not make again. You stole something of mine, and I will get it back one day. Trust me, I will make your life a living hell if you ever return to New Luna. Yours, Evan Sneetch. ‘ Rathenhope frowned as he read the message, and then shrugged, heading for the shuttle port, the frown still on his face. He reached it at almost noon exactly, and sure enough, Redear Valuespotter and two bodyguards were already waiting for him. “You came,” stated the feline. “I did,” nodded the Martian, unzipping his bag and withdrawing the idol. “And I have what you asked for.” “Good,” nodded Redear appreciatively, looking over the idol carefully. “And it isss the genuine arrrrticle assss well. Congrrratuationss.” The Demarian nodded to one of his guards who produced a card, giving it to Rathenhope. The Martian looked it over with a smile. “Nice doing business with you,” he said simply. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to get offplanet.” Redear nodded again. “Underrrrssstandable.” With that response from the feline, Rathenhope was gone, already heading for a shuttle bound for Ungstir. Category:OtherSpace Stories